In this era of market volatility and uncertainty, investors are looking at timberland as increasingly attractive as part of an alternatives exposure, with benefits including diversification and inflation-hedging. Timberland's effectiveness as an inflation hedge is well documented - since 1970, Timberland Investments has outperformed inflation by an average of 3.3% a year. The returns have compared favorably with those of the stock market, too: over the same time period, investments in timberland have returned an average of 15% a year, whereas the stock market has averaged only 11%.
To date, most timberland investment have been in the United States, but it is anticipated that the trend will move toward emerging countries, with investors spreading their timber exposures to capture growth opportunities. Speaking on one emerging market in a recent interview, Henrique Aretz, Managing Partner at VBI Timberland, gave an overview of the trends in the Brazilian Forest-Based industry, along with advice on creating a well-balanced portfolio of timber investments in Brazil. The interview is available in full here:
http://www.timberlandworldsummit.com/
Topics of note on the 10th Timberland Investment World Summit agenda this year include:
• Strategies for the Timber sector during a period of low housing starts within the United States
• Timber market supply and demand
• Emerging market opportunities in Brazil, India, and China
• Lumber/
• Timberland valuation standards
• Evaluations of TIMOs and REITs
For more information on the 10th Timberland Investment World Summit, please visit www.timberlandworldsummit or contact Program Director Ed Oledan at ed.oledan@iqpc.com.
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IQPC (www.iqpc.com)
